N is for Name
by Madders Ahatter
Summary: Jack has given Cassie a dog. Now the dog needs a name. A follow-up scene to the episode Singularity written for the alphabet soup challenge.


N is for Name

Spoilers: Singularity

Jack and Cassie friendship

This scene is set shortly after the end of the episode _Singularity _in Season 1

SG-1 arrived at Janet Fraiser's front door with Cassie, who was holding her new dog.

"What's this then?" Janet queried, her puzzled frown soon belied by the upturned crinkle at the corners of her mouth.

"It's the rules," Cassie reiterated what she'd told Sam. It was strange that so many people here didn't seem to know their own rules. "Every Earth kid _has _to have a dog. Jack told me."

"Oh, well, if Colonel O'Neill said so, then I guess it must be true. You'd better bring him in."

She stood aside and Cassie led the team into her temporary – or possibly permanent if Sam had guessed right – home.

At a gesture from Janet, the others moved to take seats in her comfortable living room, while Cassie sat on the floor playing with her new pet.

Janet pulled Jack aside. "I thought I was taking in one stray, not two," she scolded good-naturedly.

"Hey, he's not a stray," Jack objected. "I picked him out from the pound myself this morning. He's got all his certificates. He's fit and healthy and ready to go." Jack pulled several sheets of paper out of his waterproof jacket pocket and handed them to Janet.

"Does he have a name?" Janet wanted to know, scanning the vaccine records and the report of his neutering operation. The puppy had evidently had a slight adverse reaction to the anesthetic and been sick for a couple of days, but other than that he seemed okay.

"Ooh, good point!" Jack moved over beside Cassie and squatted down, grimacing at the creaking of his knees. "We gotta give this little feller a name."

He addressed the whole group then, as if giving orders at a briefing session.

"It's very important that we find the _perfect_ name. Any ideas?"

"You sound like T S Eliot on the naming of cats," Daniel observed with a grin.

"Oh believe me, naming dogs is _way_ trickier," Jack assured him, winking at Cassie and ruffling the pooch behind the ear.

"He was a gift from you, so I _should_ call him Jack, shouldn't I?" Cassie looked up at the Colonel for approval, and then looked back at the dog to see if it suited him.

The dog whined.

"Oh no, no, no," Jack shook his head and his hands vigorously. "No you don't. I'm not sharing my name with a dog, even a great little guy like this one." He wasn't sure whether he should be insulted or flattered, so he acted insulted, particularly by the dog's reaction. Secretly, he _was_ a bit flattered that he'd been Cassie's first choice.

Sam, Daniel and Janet all laughed. Teal'c tilted his head thoughtfully.

"How about Pavlov?" Sam suggested, ever the scientist.

"Carter, you gotta be joking," Jack told her firmly. "No way we're gonna yell, '_Here, Pavlov, dinnertime Pavlov_,' all up and down the street."

"Jack has a point," Janet smirked at how the colonel had made it clear he recognized Sam's reference without boasting about it. The man had hidden depths.

"What breed is he?" Sam wanted to know.

"He's a Shiba Inu, similar to a Finnish Spitz," supplied Daniel, before Jack had a chance to reply.

"Now before you try and get clever, Daniel, no weird foreign-sounding names," warned Jack. "We want him and Cassie to fit in round here, not raise suspicions."

Daniel looked hurt. "I was just gonna suggest Finn, actually."

The dog whined again.

"Nah, he doesn't like that," Jack declared dismissively. "Do you, boy?" he asked the dog, who tilted his head much as Teal'c had done, and panted contentedly in response to more ear rubbing.

"Perhaps he should be designated K-9 as in the creature from Dr. Who," proposed Teal'c, who had studied popular Earth programs as part of his own induction. "Both accurate and a cultural reference to aid Cassandra with her cover story."

"K-9 was a _robot_ dog," Jack objected, though the puppy had made no protest.

Janet looked round the group indulgently. They had all bonded with the young alien girl to some degree, but Jack... well, Jack had a special way with kids. He would provide a good male role model for Cassie as she grew up without a father. For now, it was obvious that Jack felt he had the biggest stake in this decision. "You asked for ideas, Jack, but you seem determined to veto everything offered. Why don't _you _suggest a name? Though it should really be Cassie's decision."

"Yes, please, Jack," Cassie bounced excitedly on her heels, making the dog bark. "You choose. I know nothing about suitable Earth names, and we didn't keep pets back home on Hanka."

The dog sat down and licked her hand.

Everyone stiffened and leant forwards slightly, opening their mouths to correct the girl on her slip.

She realized at once. "Sorry, I mean I never had a pet in Toronto. I promise I'll remember."

Jack looked from the dog to Cassie and back. Then he looked up at Janet.

"Okay, Janet, here's my suggestion. We call the little guy Hanka. That way, if Cassie slips up and mentions her home planet, we got plausible denial that she was talking about the dog."

The dog in question wagged his tail.

"There ya go; he seems to like it. Wadda you say, Cassie?"

"I like that." Cassie threw her arms round the colonel. "Thank you, Jack. Here, Hanka!"

Hanka nuzzled in between them.

"Good boy!" Jack and Cassie said in unison.

Janet grabbed her camera from the coffee table where she'd placed it ready for Cassie's homecoming and took the first of many 'family photos' for her mantelpiece.


End file.
